DURHAM, NC - Donate Life America and Donate Life North Carolina presented former Blue Devil standout Jason Williams with a Donate Life Champion award in recognition of his outstanding support of organ, tissue and eye donation. The award, in its inaugural year, is given to select members of the athletic community from across the country who have inspired others to give the gifts of life, sight and mobility.

Other national Donate Life Champions include Michael Jordan, Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter and Charlotte and Emmitt Ray, parents of former UNC mascot Jason Ray.

Williams, a two-time National Player of the Year, received the award because he has supported donation by sharing the story of his mother and grandmother, both of whom suffered from polycystic kidney disease (PKD) as part of Facebook's launch of the timeline feature allowing users to share their organ donation status. His grandmother lost her battle with PKD, but his mother received a life-saving kidney transplant.

Donate Life North Carolina invites Williams' fans, community members and friends to join the North Carolina Donor Registry in his name at DonateLifeNC.org. Thanks to the efforts of Williams thousands of people have already been inspired to join register as donors across the country in the past this year. Each fan who joins the North Carolina Donor Registry in Williams' honor is known as a "FanForLife".

The Donate Life Champion awards and FanForLife campaign are key parts of a bold national initiative to increase organ, eye and tissue donation. As part of their "20 Million in 2012" campaign to register 20 million new people to state organ donor registries this year, Donate Life America will work with state affiliates to present 125 Donate Life Champion awards to well-known athletes, teams and other role models within the sports community who have demonstrated remarkable support for donation.

More than 114,000 Americans are currently waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. More than 3,500 are waiting in North Carolina. For more information about the "20 Million in 2012" campaign, please contact Sharon Hirsch at shirsch@donatelifenc.org or 919-451-7893. To join the North Carolina Donor Registry n go to DonateLifeNC.org or register when you get or renew your license at the DMV.